World Recipes

Zupa Ziemniaczana (Polish Potato Soup)

Posted by Olga at recipegoldmine.com 3/28/02 8:34:13 am

This is a hearty creamy soup is simple, but has a surprisingly rich flavor. Instead of the sour cream, milk can be used, but sour cream tastes much better.

7 medium potatoes (2 3/4 pounds), peeled
    and cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch cubes
3 medium carrots (9 ounces), peeled and thinly sliced
3 celery stalks (3 1/2 ounces), thinly sliced
1 large onion (12 ounces), peeled and chopped
1 1/2 quarts (48 ounces) water
2 cups (16 ounces) broth (chicken, beef or pork)
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup (9 ounces) sour cream or 1 (8 ounce) container

Place the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion into a large pot. Add the water and broth, and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. Cook the soup over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it bubbles. Add 1/4 cup of the sour cream, stirring till smooth, then add the remaining sour cream and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir the sour cream into the soup. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve the soup hot, garnished with chopped parsley, chives, or scallions, if desired.

Yield: about 14 cups, 9 to 10 generous servings.

Paluski (Polish Potato Fingers)

Do these bring back memories. Paluski! We always had them with homemade kapusta and kielbasi. I make these all of the time. My family loves them with a nice mushroom gravy. They taste delicious fried in some bacon fat with onions and crisp bacon. I sometimes cut them up into small pieces and add them to my homemade chicken soup. I have even gone so far as to fry them up and serve them with sunnyside eggs, scrambled and poached. Yummy, yummy!

4 cups flour, plus extra if needed
   to make a pliable dough
4 cups mashed potatoes, cold
1 tablespoon salt
4 eggs

Cook potatoes and drain well. Press through a ricer and place in a large bowl. Cool

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Mixing well. Make a well in the center of flour and add eggs, one at a time, mixing well until all the eggs are mixed well.

Add the riced potatoes and mix until all ingredients are blended real well. If necessary add some water to make the dough pliable if too stiff, this will depend on how much flour you add. (I have found that 4 cups will make a very wet dough, so I add 1/4 cups of flour at a time until the dough feels just right. This is done by feel.****do not make the dough too stiff****.

Roll out dough in portions at a time onto floured surface, rolling out into a long log about 1-inch thick.

Cut logs into 3/4-inch pieces, rolling slightly to even out.

Drop into rolling salted boiling water and cook until paluski float to the top, allowing them to simmer a few minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl.

Have some melted butter ready to drizzle over the paluski to coat them.

You can saute some onions in butter and toss in with them.

Either way you doctor them up, they taste wonderful.